gratitude.

It's on my mind...

Working at a sleep-away summer camp as a counselor, I learned a lot about gratitude. Being high in the Sierra Mountains, we had no cell phone service, so we learned to write notes. Like the "good old days," right? Something that I noticed within the first week of working at this camp, was that the main purpose of writing notes to each other and to our campers was to express gratitude.

Gratitude for the person's awesomeness.

Gratitude for a helping hand.

Gratitude for being real and honest.

Gratitude for being a friend.

"You rock" rocks.

It sounds super cheesy, but the truth is, those notes of gratitude made my entire experience unforgettable and special.

AND, it wasn't only getting these notes of gratitude that I remember, but also writing them! Writing down feelings of joy and thankfulness brought me more to the present moment. It made me grateful for the little things and helped me recognize them.

I notice now that I am away from that environment, that I lose track of the little things that I am grateful for.

So my "one thing" for today:

Practicing gratitude.

Today, I made sure to take notice the things I am grateful for in my little world, with a goal to be grateful for people I encounter as well. And here's the list:

• Peaceful mornings

• Coffee

• Breakfast foods

• Lakes

• The chance to live near lakes

• Water activities

• Good books

• Self-care/Spa nights

The list goes on, but I won't bother you with smaller details. Just writing this list down helped me be present today. I wasn't at work, and I got to enjoy the place I live. I feel lucky for that, and I think that practicing the art of gratitude helped me realize how lucky I am! And to be honest, it was scary coming to the realization that I don't notice it every single day.

In the future, I hope to write more letters to the people I love and tell them how grateful I am for their presence. Let's brighten more days.

Cheers,

Rach